History
Episode 207
Marek Kohn on The Stories Old Towns Tell
The author explores how history shapes urban identity and the delicate balance of rebuilding after disaster.
Marek, many congratulations on the new book, The Stories Old Towns Tell. Why did you choose the seven cities (Frankfurt; Würzburg; Rothenburg ; Prague; Warsaw; Lublin and Vilnius) – did you use a set of criteria, or was it your own experiences of visiting them? Thank...
Episode 206
Firelighters, Fairy-Tales and Fate: The Stories Old Towns Tell
The town centres of cities destroyed by war have much to tell.
Europe’s Old Towns, the historic quarters at the heart of cities across the continent, tell stories about European history that date back to the Middle Ages. Some are epic narratives; some are fairy-tale fantasies. But some of the most powerful stories they tell are...
Episode 205
In Memorium: The Victoria Cross & George Cross at the IWM
The Lord Ashcroft Gallery is closing down and our editor returned for a last look.
The music in my ears was Elgar’s Nimrod and Tallis’ Fantasia theme by Vaughan Williams. The sun was absent, hidden behind a cloudy sky as the giant 15 inch naval guns pointed towards the heavens and I arrived in the gardens of the Imperial War Museum. With a sense of...
A Corporal’s War
David Roy explores the role of British troops during the Northern Ireland conflict in the 1980s.
By the 1980s the conflict in Northern Ireland had become something of a stalemate, to the extent that, according to the government of the day, an ‘Acceptable Level of Violence’ had been achieved. In today’s risk averse world this statement seems horrifying but back...
James Dunford Wood
The novelist and writer talks history, his inspiration and recommended reads.
James Dunford Wood, what first attracted you to the 1930s and beyond? I inherited a set of war diaries written by my father, covering 1939-1946 and RAF campaigns in Iraq, Burma and North-West Europe. Can you tell us a little about your research? For my book The Big...
